7 Young Tech Companies Poised to Reinvent Real Estate

REach®, NAR's tech incubator program, announced its 'Class of 2017' last week. Each year, the annual program selects seven companies whose products or services show the potential to benefit NAR's 1.2 million members.

The program runs from one NAR conference to the next. Each class debuts in May at the NAR Legislative Meetings in Washington, D.C. and 'graduates' at NAR Annual in November.

Hundreds of companies applied this year—up significantly from 2016—and the seven chosen after an exhaustive review of their business models and execution strategies truly represent la crème de la crème. This year's class ranges from early- to mid-stage companies who, in total, have raised over $50 million in funding and whose total valuation tops $350 million.

The goal of the program "is to move these organizations rapidly forward beyond their initial successes through education, mentorship and market exposure." REach® has had a successful track record so far. The tech incubator hit the half-decade mark this year, and its previous four classes have, on average, doubled their customer base and, in total, raised more than $60 million in funding during and after the program.

So which hot tech products does REach (and NAR, by extension) think will benefit Realtors? Let's take a look.

1. Centriq: You keep maintenance records for your car--why not do the same for your home? This app helps homeowners digitally track property-related receipts, invoices, documents, notes, and even a home inventory. All of these records can be transferred from buyer to seller in the event of a sale. Realtors can sponsor this digitization of their 'listings' and give the new owner their home's records as a closing gift.